After War, Truce
by castlenova
Summary: Pepper visits a recovering Tony after the events of CACW. Will they work out their differences? Rated M for safety but might be ok at T...


_So this was something that came into my mind after I saw Civil War. It's been sitting on my PC for months because I didn't want to put it out but after the feedback from my first IM fic I decided to let it out into the world!_

 _IM * IM * IM * IM * IM *_

He closed his momentarily and let the feeling of pain wash through his body. The older he got the longer his recovery period was. With a busted shoulder, sprained ankle and knee, and a number of lacerations and cuts, topped off by the sheer emotional drain of the past week, he was totally burned out.

With the rest of his friends in maximum security he had the compound to himself and it was deathly quiet but not as bad as the house. At least here he could find things to distract him. Rhodey was downstairs trying to rehabilitate and he was determined to ensure that his best friend would have the same quality of life as before.

Probably just without War Machine or Iron Patriot or whatever the hell it was being called now.

He wondered if maybe he could find some way of existing without Iron Man too. Then again, he had tried twice now to make changes that would facilitate that. He had failed twice but he would never let anyone tell him that his motives weren't pure.

He must have dozed off because the next thing he heard was her voice and he was sure he had to be dreaming.

"Tony!"

That seemed closer and less dreamlike. Slowly, he opened his eyes to find himself staring up at his girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend. Or whatever she was at the moment.

"Pepper? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Rhodey. And you. I heard about what happened. Or, some of it anyway. You look like hell..."

He chuckled and thanked her sarcastically. He sat up to make space for her on the couch, groaning as he did. He had forgotten about the pain in his ribs but his heart did soar when she sprang to sit alongside him, one hand going to where his was on his ribs and the other to his shoulder as a helping hand.

"You know you're getting older when your recovery time starts doubling..." he said grimly. She nodded, her hand going to a cut on his forehead which she thumbed softly.

"What happened out there Tony?"

He looked at her and sighed. His eyes locked with hers for a moment that neither of them could pull away from. He closed his eyes at the feel of her hand on his.

"I found out the truth about how my parents died. It wasn't a simple car crash. They were murdered. By the Winter Soldier. And Rogers knew about it."

He couldn't look at her but if he had he would have seen the shock and sympathy on her face. Her hand squeezed his tightly. He bit his lip and continued.

"You know what the thing is? I always knew that Dad was a target, someone who was marked. On some level, I wasn't surprised that someone killed him. But my mom? Why her? Why..."

He couldn't finish his sentence as Pepper had pulled him into a tight embrace, hand stroking his hair and she kissed his cheek, whispering him how sorry she was. He felt tears prickle at his eyes and turned his face into her neck shield it from her view. But that was a mistake. Her scent intoxicated him and he couldn't help letting his lips find the soft skin at the junction between her neck and shoulder. Her skin was soft under his lips and he tried but failed to suppress a gasp.

"I'm sorry," he said, "It's just...I miss you so much. And..."

She pulled back from him, taking his face between her hands.

"It's ok Tony. I miss you too."

He nodded, not caring now about the tearful glisten in his eyes. She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his lips. When she finished she didn't pull away and he took the opportunity to kiss her again, this time with more urgency.

"Tony..."

He knew he was out of line but he took the chance to slide his tongue over her lips to deepen their kiss.

"Please Pepper. I can't do this alone any more. I need you, I want you. Please, let's work this out. Don't push me away."

She pushed him away and he hung his head, apologising, wringing his hands together. Pepper didn't think she'd ever seen him so helpless, not even when he was a slave to his addictions. She stroked his hair off of his face.

"I was going to suggest that we discuss this somewhere more private. And you're not alone, I don't want to be without you any more either."

He nodded and allowed himself a ghost of a smile at what she had just said. Slowly, he placed his hands down to hoist himself off the couch though not without considerable discomfort. She brought an arm under his and pulled it around her shoulders. He groaned as he placed weight down on his busted ankle. She winced with him.

"Tony, I know you don't want to hear this but you need to take a step back from all of this..."

"No I do want to hear it because you're right. My best friend is downstairs trying to learn how to walk again. I was nearly killed in Siberia and that was by a friend, ex-friend, whatever..."

She began to protest but he cut her off.

"...the next time I might not be so lucky. When I first started this it was to make amends for all of the grief and pain I caused to people. Then it became about world threats and alien invasions and a team of superheroes. All of which sounds really cool but then you...You came into my life in a way that no other woman ever has and it's taken me a while to realise it but I don't want all of that stuff any more. I just want you."

He looked away from her, slightly uncomfortable by such an unguarded exposure of his feelings. He let his hands fall to his sides when she didn't reply. He risked a glance at her and found that she now shared his teary eyed gaze. He shrugged at her in a 'what do you think' manner.

She answered him with a kiss, one that she poured all of emotion into, their tongues mingling in a familiar dance. She slid her arms over his shoulders, a move that resulted in him breaking the kiss as she managed to knock off his busted shoulder.

"Agh, God damn it!" he exclaimed, raising his other hand to the inflicted area where it met with hers as she chuckled.

"Oh sure, laugh at the invalid," he groused while leaning to kiss her again.

"It would be just my luck that on the day I reunite with the world's most famous bachelor that he would be completely beat up," she laughed. He wrapped his good arm around her waist and pulled her to him.

"I think you'll find, Ms Potts that even in my injured state I will still be more than capable of bringing my A game fro you."

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Well maybe B Plus but that's still enough to put most men to shame!"

She sidled close to him again, careful this time about her arms and hands.

"Well I can't argue with that. Come on. Show me where Tony Stark's lair is."

He smirked, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

IM * IM * IM * IM * IM*

His room at the compound was considerably different to the one at his house. It was grey and sparsely furnished, almost as if he had literally told FRIDAY to simply put in whatever was in a standard hotel room. She supposed that made sense. This was never supposed to be home but she got the feeling that Tony hadn't spent much time at their home since its refurbishment.

"Tell me, is our house still standing?"

"Last I checked..." he said hurriedly and that confirmed her suspicion.

"Tony..."

"It's not the same without you in it. It's empty. Too big. Lonely."

She slid her hands onto his chest and kissed him again, fully.

"Tomorrow. We go home. To our house. You recuperate and we figure out, properly, how to make this work."

He nodded, "Done." He kissed her again, slowly and sensually, his tongue sliding over her lips and along hers. She moaned at his touch and he began to steer her back towards the bed. She stopped him.

"Nah uh, you're injured so let me do the work."

He raised his eyebrows at that before telling her to be his guest and succumbing to her directing him to stand in front of the bed. Slowly and carefully she pulled his shirt up and over his head, making sure that she didn't jerk his bad shoulder. She paused for a moment at the site of his black and blue ribs and bones.

"Maybe we should..." she began but he silence her with a kiss.

"No. Now way, I'm fine. I've had worse."

She nodded and ran her hands softly down his chest to his belt and quickly unbuckled it, shedding his pants. Standing now in just his boxers, she directed him to sit down on the bed while she began to shed her own clothes, mindful of his eyes sweeping over every inch of her.

"God I will never get tired of seeing this," he said, voice full of lustful admiration. She smiled down at him before stepping closer to him, feeling his hands slide up her legs to the back of her knees, his lips kissing her naval and beginning a slow venture south of there. She stopped him at that and encouraged him backwards on the bed so she could crawl forward to straddle him, his head propped up by the pillows.

Had Tony been in peak physical condition their reuniting would have been far more vigorous, of that he was sure. But as Pepper began to slowly kiss him and make love to him he felt like his heart might burst. They had shared sensual, intimate experiences in the past but he was quite sure they had never had such languid and loving sex before with every emotion poured into every movement. He had always been a pro a fast, frantic fucking – maximum pleasure, minimal emotional investment.

With Pepper he had learned to appreciate every inch of her body, taken the time to find her most illusive sensitive spots and torture her accordingly. The simple fact was that he loved being with her and wanted to spend as much time as was humanly possible exploring and satisfying her.

As she began to slowly thrust he forced himself to sit up despite her protests, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in the space between her breasts.

"You are so gorgeous," he moaned into her skin as he ignored the pain in his body to thrust along with her, loving the feeling of being inside her once again, their arousal heightening until both were breathlessly uttering the other's name.

As they both came down off their climax Tony fell back onto the bed but the sudden movement caused a spasm of pain in his ribs which he yelped at. Pepper quickly slid out of his grasp, hand flying to his chest but he shook his head.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just...Ouch."

She looked at him with sympathetic eyes and he shrugged it off.

"Honey trust me. That was worth some discomfort. I just need a bit of TLC for a few days," he waggled his eyes at her and she gave him a smouldering look in return. She stood and wandered naked from his room through to where he knew the bathroom was. She ignored his query as to where she was going. Slowly he pulled himself onto his elbows and into a sitting position.

That was when he heard the unmistakeable sound of water flowing. He smirked and stood up, lazily ambling over to the bathroom. Suddenly FRIDAY'S voice rang through the room.

"Boss, Colonel Rhodes is wondering if Miss Potts is still in the house..."

"Tell him yes and unless he's literally stuck between some stairs I'm not leaving this room and neither is she."

There was a beat before the AI replied, "Those exact words Boss?"

He nodded before realising the AI couldn't see him.

"Sure. Replay my voice if you like."

By the time Tony reached the bathroom door, FRIDAY had reported back to him.

"He said he's happy for you and that he'd talk to you later."

Tony nodded thinking that that was unlikely seeing as he planned to basically imprison Pepper in his bedroom until Monday.

IM * IM * IM * IM * IM *

Tony couldn't see anything through the steam in the room so he reached for the fan. As it cleared he spotted his beautiful bedfellow leaning against the giant bath tub smiling innocently at him.

"You realise that I'm never letting you leave me ever again, don't you?" he said casually and she smirked. She stepped close to him, her hands roaming over the bruising on his body.

"I hate seeing you so injured," she remarked, dropping a kiss on his black and blue shoulder. He hummed with approval.

"If I'd known that injury would result in you playing sexy, and naked, nurse I'd have showed off my bruises much more often..." he smirked and she gently shoved him towards the tub.

"Get in."

"Yes m'am."

Carefully he sat himself down on the tub and swung his legs into the water which was the perfect temperature. He sunk down into it and let the feeling of the hot soothing water wash over him. He groaned in appreciation as he lay back against the tub. He opened his eyes when she cleared her throat and he gave her a quizzical look.

"Move forward," and she slotted in behind him as he did, arms wrapping around his middle. She dropped a kiss to the back of his shoulder. They lay peacefully for a while, his hands resting over hers, his head resting on her shoulder, far back enough for him to kiss her jaw at various intervals. She smiled at that.

"It feels like I've never been away..." she said drawing her hands back onto his shoulder blades and applying pressure to them, working the knots in his muscles. She heard him gasp at first but it turned quickly into a contented moan.

"Believe me, I know you've been away. And I never want to have to know it again."

She smiled at that and leaned forward to kiss the back of his neck. She continued her ministrations on his back for another few moments before wrapping her arms back around his bod, letting he hands rest low on his abdomen – a teasing gesture if ever there was one.

"You minx," he said.

"What?" she replied innocently and he chuckled, jerking his hips upwards under her hands. She tightened her grasp around him but let her hands stroke over the skin close to where she knew he was sporting an impressive erection. She heard his breathing quicken but still she did not move her hands towards him. Finally he grasped her hand and moved it himself, letting out a guttural groan when her fingers closed around him. As she began to slowly pump him she remarked upon his stamina even while injured which he laughed at.

It didn't take long for her to get him off especially once she started nibbling at his neck and jawline, and met his lips for a desperate kiss when he twisted himself uncomfortably to reach her. He lay back breathlessly against her for a moment before directing her around to sit in front of him.

As soon as she sat his lips and hands were on her, running over her wet body, devouring her neck. She smiled in between moans – she would never let it be said that Tony Stark didn't give as good as he got. She gasped loudly when his fingers connected with her clit and then her centre, her hips jerked involuntarily into his hand and he chuckled, tweaking her breasts with his other hand, his tongue and lips running all over her neck. He smirked at the moan she let out when he slid two fingers inside her, curling them up and finding a sweet spot to torture her from.

"Oh god..."

"It's Tony but I'm comfortable with being upgraded to God if you think it's fair."

But she was far too distracted to offer any comeback. Her body had begun to spasm under his ministrations and her head fell back on his shoulder in ecstasy. He took that opportunity to plant kisses all over her face and neck, sliding his tongue over her ear lobe.

Suddenly she sat forward, turned around and straddled him, her eyes dark with desire as she kissed him thoroughly. His injuries were either forgotten or ignored as, this time, they moved together much more vigorously, she collapsing down on his chest as they both reached their climax. Through heavy breaths he reminded her once again that he loved her. She chuckled and replied that it was just his libido talking.

"Huh, this coming from a woman who just jumped a defenceless, injured man in a bathtub. One with an admittedly huge erection but defenceless and injured nonetheless."

She blushed at that, "Well what can I say, you're kinda irresistible. Especially when you're...doing the things you can do."

He laughed at that, kissing her neck again, saying that he would do plenty more once his muscles were willing to follow orders from his brain again.

Wordlessly they proceeded to lovingly wash each other, she taking care not to hit his bruising and he being so gentle that you'd be forgiven for thinking he was afraid of breaking her. They stole brief kisses from each other as they went back to the bedroom. She found a shirt belonging to him while he simply slipped into bed naked.

As she found her place tight against his chest, his arm draped over her waist, they both sighed, content in the knowledge that at least for a while, all was right with the world again.


End file.
